SINGAPORE – Validus Capital, a peer-to-peer lending platform for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), has appointed Sonal Jain as chief data officer and Arvind Rao as chief technology officer, as it prepares for further expansion in South-east Asia.

The firm also appointed Vincentius Ivan as head of technology and innovation at Batumbu, its Indonesian arm.

As chief data officer, Ms Jain is tasked with delivering innovative data solutions for SMEs while meeting regulatory compliance requirements. She holds over 15 years of experience in analytics and risk management, and has held senior roles at Indifi and American Express across Asia-Pacific and Europe.

As chief technology officer, Mr Rao will be responsible for the global technological architecture of the Validus platform. Before Validus, he held senior roles at Citibank and Barclays, and brings over 25 years of global experience in Asia, Europe, Africa, Mexico and the United States in consumer banking.

Mr Ivan meanwhile will join Batumbu at end May, where he will oversee technology adoption and implementation. He has over 21 years of experience in IT within the financial services industry, and has held senior management roles at Citibank, Bank BTPN and Bank Permata. Batumbu was recently launched in April to serve the needs of SMEs in Indonesia.

Validus Capital co-founder and CEO Ajit Raikar said with their combined experience in technology, the firm is confident that the new hires will play a strategic role in Validus’ growth in the region.

“Technology and innovation lie at the core of what we do, by helping us drive more informed lending decisions. This ensures that business financing remains accessible and convenient to SMEs,” he added.

Validus Capital recently raised $20.5 million in an oversubscribed Series B funding round in February 2019. Among its backers was Vertex Ventures, an early-stage venture capital arm of Temasek Holdings.

The firm said it has facilitated over $200 million in business financing to Singapore’s SMEs in under 18 months.

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